Brick-machine



'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES G. BROWN, OF CALDVELLS, NEW YORK.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 2,312, dated October 11, 1841.

To all 'u1/wm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES G. BROWN, of Caldwells, Rockland county, inthe State of New York, brickmaker, have invented and made and applied touse certain new and useful Improvements in the arrangement of mechanicalmeans for grinding, molding, and pressing clay into the form of bricks,for which improved means I seek Letters Patent of the United States, andthat the mode of constructing and using the said im Qrovements and theends to be atA tained tiereby, ale fully and substantially set forth andshown, in the following de scription and in the drawings attached to andmaking a part of this specification, wherein-Figure 1, Sheet 1, is aperspective elevation of one form of the machinery, as I use the same,seen on one angle thereof. Fig. 2 is a similar perspective elevation ofthe same seen on the opposite angle to Fig. 1.

The figures in Sheets 2 and 3 and the other detached figures, added toshow particular parts more cl-early, are separately referred to, and thesame letters and numbers as marks of reference apply to the same partsin all the several figures.

A, A, B, B, Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, are the main parts of the fixedframe supporting the whole of the machine.

a., a, a, a, are four timber standards forming the angles of the squareboX C, which serves the purpose of the tub in the common pugging mill,as used by brickmakers, and the clay material is put into it in thecommon way, at the opening shown on the side of Fig. 1.

c is a vertical shaft on the top of which is the horse lever D, andbelow the top tie in the frame, on the shaft c is the horse wheel 6lgearing into the pinion e on the knife shaft f, which carries the knivesg, with four forcing cams or wipers below. All these parts arerepresented as made and used in the common manner but below the pinionc, the bevel4 wheel 71., on the shaft con'inninicates the power to abevel pinion z', on a horizontal shaft 7c, supported in bearings Z, Z1,inside and outside the frame of the bex, C, and which carries on theouter end of the drum E, connected by a belt m to a drum F, on a shaftfn... A tightening rigger 0, is mounted in a carriage y), on this end ofthe levers g whose fulcrnm is on the bearing Z1, the opposite end of thelever g, is kept up to tighten the belt by the spring latch r, on asmall bracket s, but the rigger in certain cases is to be put out of useby means shown hereafter.

The shaft n Carries within the drum, F, a small pinion t, gearing into atooth wheel e on a shaft to the opposite end of this shaft e0 has anelliptic half cam u, which in its descent operates on a roller on thisside of the vert-ical press arm y, and forces it downward, this arm g/has a slot or mortise through which the shaft fw passes, the lifting orreturn motion is given by the corresponding half cam 2', operating onthe roller al, these two cams cause the arm y to move up and downbet-Ween them and it is steadied in its motion by the slot on the shaftfw. This press arm y is made in two parts the upper and outer part y, isseen in front in Fig. 3, and is shown sidewise constructively in Fig'.t, where Ca2 is a part sliding in a band a3, on g/ while the lower endof the part y slides in a band C64, on the part ai. On y is a rollersheave a5, on a strong pin, on a2 is a roller sheave co6 also on astrong pin, on a2, above a5, is a strong cord al, descending below a5and returning over a, passes 0E toward the side of the machine and undera roller sheave as, and turning up finishes by an attachment to this endof the lever a, with a fulcrum at 1, and having a weight b2 at theopposite end to keep the cord al, tight; at the back of a2, a roll-er a0is mounted on the same pin with the roller a, and acts against a smalllateral bracket 3 to prevent the arm y having any lateral sway. At thelower end of the arm a2, the press driver 3, shown separate in Fig. 5,is secured on and has in it two openings 54 as shown in Fig. beneatheach of which a common clock valve is hung as shown in Figs. et and 5 toallow the entrance of air between the driver and the clay material whenthe driver rises.

The box 55, receives the clay material from the pngging boX through anopening for the purpose and the driver Z13 forces it downward through aset of metal grates b, shown separate in Fig. 6 into the molds 57, shownseparate in Fig. 7, these are brought successively under the chamber orbox 705,

and grates b, by means which are now to be described.

rI he shaft au already named has on it, between the wheel e and theouter bearings on the side of the machine a nearly cylindrical formedcam 5S, set eccentrically on the shaft fw and in its rotations operatingalternately on a pair of roller sheaves ZJ, b, this sheave bo, is partlyhidden in the drawings by the tooth wheel o these two sheaves aremounted on the side of a sliding shackle bar 01, which lies along theside of the machine and has a slot in it, at this end by which it workson the shaft w, the other end passing behind the spring latch i" andabove the lower bracket s is jointed by a pin 02, to the verticalconnecting arm c3, whose lower end is mounted on a short shaft et, andon its upper end is a roller sheave c5, the shaft 0*, carries also avertical lever o, whose upper and shorter arm finishes with a pincarrying a roller sheave 0T, in the same way as the connecting arm 03,is finished. From the upper end of the lever c, a strong cord 00, passesunder and over the sheave o5, and over the sheave 07, descending betweenthe arms and through the shaft 0*, and passing under a sheave 0S, inthis end of the angle bollard o, rises and passes over the sheave ell,at the other end of the bollard and again i descending the cord 00,terminates by an attachment to the lever d2, whose fulcrum is at cl3,and which tailing to the other end of the machine has a weight d4, onits loose end. Between the cord 00, and the fulcruin, cl3, a

second cord d5, leads from the lever cl2, un-

der a sheave (ZG, on the frame of the machine and ascending` over asheave el", on

the bracket s1, terminates by a fastening to an eye on the top of thespring latch i.

The lower end of the vertical lever c6.

Ais jointed by a link olf), to the horizontal side a strong spring e2,terminating near the link dg, with a shoulder downward forming a latchcatch e3. Beneath these last parts a pair of strong longitudinal bearersG, G, within the main frame sustain at their ends a pair of shafts et;6". These carry each a pair of flanch wheels e, 6, 7, S, 9, the outerfaces of which are made with a rib e0, whose outer edges are octago-nal,to receive the inner edges of the metal link pieces f1, which form ahinge jointed chain each alternate link being made with a boss f2,through which a screw bolt secures a wood or metal cross piece f3; thesecross pieces form the cross wise connections between the ltwo chains andalso form the ldivisions into which the molds o?, shown in Fig. 7, areto be laid for use.v These parts collectively form an apron to carry themolds under the press and place each set by an intermittentl motion, toreceive the clay and give it the form required. One end of each crosspiece f3, is chainfered on the forward edge to allow of the latch springc2, sliding readily on and over it; and near the back end of the machinea shaft f4, and pair of flanched rollers f5, are mounted to support thatend of thev apron chain and a similar shaft f6, and pair of flanchrollers f7, lie under the apron chain near the back and front part ofthepress chamber b5, so as to be directly under and sustain two of thecross pieces f3, when in the proper position for the molds to be filledby the action o-f the press driver above.

When thus completed and adjusted the machine is to be used as follows:The molds are to be put successively in on the back end so as to keepall the spaces on the upper and straight part of the chain filled to thepress chamber and the pugmill being charged and power applied in anyconvenient manner to turn it the motion of the knives and wipers willforce out the clay into the press box rThe motion communicated throughthe shaft 'w and cam u and roller a2, to the arm y will cause the driver3, to descend in successive alternations as each set of molds comesunder it and force the clay through the grates Z/G into the molds andbefore the driver begins to rise the inotion of the cam o8, drives thebar o1, in the direction of the arrow l, and thus carrying theconnecting arm 03, and upper end of the lever 0G, with it the lower endof the lever c, goes in the opposite direction carrying with it thelatch slide el, and latch spring e2, this by its shoulder e3 catches oneof the cross pieces f3, and carries the filled mold from under thechamber by moving that and the apron chain forward the width of one moldand cross piece, bringing an empty mold under the chamber, the driverwhich has risen during this last motion now descends and forces a newportion of material into the succeeding molds and the motions beingmaintained by the power applied, the pressing and molding goes oncontinuously with the pugging and forcing out of the material. Should astone or other hard substance go through the mill and prevent the driverdescending, the machinery is protected from breaking by the operationo-f t-he two part arm g/ and a2 to the driver, as so soon as thepressure and resistance are equalized the arm piece a2, will slide inthe upper band a3, and the lower end of the arm y will slide in the bandat, and the rollers a5, aG, will separate as the cord a7, will draw downthis end of the lever a", and raise the weight o2, at the opposite end,and this operation, by the effect of the weight on the lever "a",regulates the amount of compression on any quantity of material in theboX which compression may be increased or diminished by changing theposition or size of the weight Z22, on the lever a9. Should a stone orother hard substance go through the grates o, so as to Crt the vcord d,will draw the spring latch r from under the `lever g. This will fall bythe vmode of fitting the press driver see Fig.

1. The parts of the pressing follower are the same as are alreadydescribed but the arm y is to be in one piece secured to the driver, andsliding in a `guide staple 1() is connected by a pin 11, to the lever1Q, which at onev end carri-ies a weight 13, and rests on a pin 14, onthe `frame `of the machine the other end being jointed to the verticalbar 15 whose upper end `is to be tted with a slot to pass the shaft wand with the rollers `and al to be operated on by the cams e and u inthe same manner as the press bar y Fig. 1, the intent of ythisarrangement being to regulate the press by the amountof the weight 13 onthe lever 1Q and if any lhard substance passes into the press `andprevents the descent of the driver arm g/ the weight 13 will rise andthus prevent breakage.

Fig. 21, is a variation in the mode of fitting the shackle bar 01, andlever S. These are shown as connected by jointing them to a crookedlever 16, with a weight 17, on the longer arm which rests on a bracket18, on the underside of the shackle bar c1, and the lever 16, isconnected by the cord (Z to the latch spring r. By this arrangement ifany `hard substance prevents the progress of the molds 6T, and chains fthe lever 16 and weight 17, will rise and by the cord (Z5 diaw thespring latch r fro-1n under the tightening rigger lever g and releasethe band m, thereby preventing breakage in this part of the machine bydisengaging the roller 0 from the operation of t-he driving belt m.

In Sheet 2 the principal Fig. 8 represents a variation in the generalarrangement which includes a change in the mode of making and fittingthe grinding knives and fitting the wipers and comprises my latestimprovements in other parts and the change effects the intended objectswith greater quickness and certainty. The letters of reference now usedrefer to the several parts to be next described.

1, 1, 1, 1, are the angle posts and 2, 2, the lies [hat collectivelyform the frame containing` the puginill, 3 is the shaft tie, A, is thehorse lever on B, the principal vertical shaft shown as made round withthe knives d, secured from turning on the shaft by pins through the hubsor eyes and shaft. Then this mode of fitting is used it is my intentionto have the pins so proportioned in size that they shall cut off betweenthe shaft and hub, by the resistance of any obstacle which wouldotherwise be enough to break the them thereby materially yknives orwipers but when this mode of tting is not used it may be better toincrease the strength of the shaft knives and Wipers and to make theshaft B, square below the upper' bearing to receive the eyes and hubs ofthe knives a and wipers the mode of forming these knives is showndetached in Figs. 9 and 10, Sheet 3, where the knives are represented asmade vthree fold and instead of being in pairs or set singly in socketson the shaft, these are set on so that each three knives stand at anangle of about sixty degrees with the three above or below increasingthe quantity of work done when lgrinding and also rendering the materialmore homogenous, more fit tol mold, and producing better bricks.

On the upper part of the shaft B, is the bevel wheel C, gearing into thebevel pinion c mounted on the cross shaft CZ which is elongated outsidethe machine for purposes stated hereafter. On the pinion 0 are theclutch blocks c taking into shoulders `in the cam which slides on theshaft (Z and is to be prevented 4turning by a slide key; this cam j isto be used as hereafter shown. Next this is the fixed cam 7 with a pin 6working into a slot 5 in the pressing` cam 7L, on the shaft (Z which isshown with the parts on it in the separate Fig. 11, Sheet 2. The cam /toperates on roller Z, on the point of the crank arm 7c which is securedon the press shaft z' this carries a second crank arm m whose outer endis jointed to the upper end of the vertical press arm n whose lower endis secured to the vertical part of the press driver 0 by screw boltsgoing through vertical slots as shown in t-he detached Fig. 12, Sheet 2,the follower 7a of the press driver is shown in Fig. 8 with two hol-esbelow which are two common clack valves as described in Figs. 3, e, and5, Sheet 1, and the valves are also shown in place in the detached Fig.20, Sheet 3. The press driver 7) works above a set of press grates thesame as shown in Fig. 6, Sheet 1, and in reverse in larger size in Fig.13, Sheet 2. Above the press o is a descending link D, jointed to theframe at (7 and at the lower end to the press lever E, which is securedto the press arm fa by a pin 1' and has a press weight F, at the outerend.

On the side of the Fig. S is the molding` box slide G, this, and theparts that are connected with it, but which lie under the body of themachine, are shown detached in Fig. 14, where the mold slide G,terminates at the cross line (a) being there about one inch higher thanthe next part which is the receiving platform H: a, is a metal frame tocarry the platform H, and delivering platform l, between these are threecross shafts t, 151, t2, carrying metal rollers 'U, o, over which themolding boxes Zr", Fig. 7, Sheet 1,

are to be passed by means now to be described.

On the outer end of the shaft CZ, the leading cam u is mounted andbetween this and the frame tie 2, is the vertical leading lever K, whichwoiks up and down and is held up in place by a long slot through whichthe shaft cl passes. Two rollers w, w1, one above and one belowthe camu, enable the cam in its rotation to lift or depress the lever K, whoselower end is connected to the lever L, this is connected at t to thecrank 5, and a pin al, on the frame carries the other end, and giveseffect to the weight L1, on the end beyond the pin u1.

The crank 5 is attached to this end of the leading shaft M, which has onit under the machine the leading crank N, as shown detached in Fig. 15,this crank N, is to be attached to the leader link shown as connected tothe mold driver 0, in the detached Fig. 14. A rod y is jointed at thelower end to the lever L the upper end is slotted to connect this rody2/ to one end of the latch bar 'Q/l, the other end of this is forked toreceive the outer end of the latch 1/2, the hook of which holds theouter end of the forked clutch lever P, shown detached in Figs. 16 and17, whose fulcrum is in a bracket jz/4, on the tic 3, the fork of thelever P, lies into a groove in the clutch cam f; a spring 1/3 isattached in front of the machine with the upper end against the clutchlever P, and

must be strong enough to force the lever in the opposite direction anddetach the cam f from the clutch pins e on the pinion c when the latchhook is raised as hereafter referred to.

ln Fig. 1l a metal gage bar al, works in a long slot in the back of theframe s and overlies the mold driver O, and is held by a small crank c1,at one end and at the other by a lever crank el, the arm of whichoverlies the platform H, and is held there by the spring 1, the twocranks move simultaneously by the connecting rod 01, the upper side ofthe gage bar al lying at the same level with the mold slide G. Themachine thus fitted is to be used as follows: The molding boxes t7, Fig,7, Sheet 1, are to be pushed on by hand over the mold slide Gr, and willbe guided in upon the metal gage bar an" which prevents the forward endo-f the mold from dropping until the end of the mold strikes th-e cranklever el, when the gage bar al, will be drawn back by the joint actionof the cranks and allow the mold to drop into place ready to moveforward and power being applied in any convenient manner to turn themachine the wipers Z) will force the clay into the press box, under thepress driver or follower y). As the machine moves on thc cam /z raisesthe press driver 7) and on the point of the cam 7L passing the roller Zthe cam will roll forward by the balance of its own weight until stoppedby the pin 6 in the fixed cam 7, and allow the press driver to fallquickly by the power of the weight F, on the lever E, and on the driver72 touching the clay it will rest momentarily only as the momentumgained by the weight F, will force the press arms down and cause it tooperate with a sudden pressure on the driver 7) and the material belowwhich will thus be driven through the bars of the press grates 56 andfill the mold beneath.

rlhe mold driver O, being at this time drawn back by t-he motion of themachine the neXt mold b?, is to be pushed in and will be adjusted intoplace by the operation of the gage al, as before described the motion ofthe machine continuing, the leading cam u operating by the roller fw,w1, will depress the leading` bar K, and crank 5 moving the crank N,forward this sends on the mold4 driver 0, and neXt mold 127, the upwardm0- tion of the cam u now reverses the previous motion of the molddriver O, and leaves the space for another mold, this and the othermotions being successively repeated as described.

In the arrangement of the machine any hard substance passing over thegrate bars o, will only decrease the operation of the press driver 29without deranging the operation of the other parts, as the molding is tobe effected by the momentum o-f the arm n, press 29, lever E, and weightF. But if any hard substances goes through the bars o, 100 the leadinglever K, will only depress that end of the horizontal lever L, withoutdepressing the crank 5 and deranging the other parts, the lever L willmove on the fulcrum 4 and the opposite end and weight 105 will rise;this lifts the rod y/ and depresses the other end of the latch bar y1,the fork of which carries down that end of the latch y2 and lifts thehook from the lever P. The spring ya will move the lever in the op- 110posite direction and this disengages the clutch cam f from the pinion cand prevents any breakage and the same result will be produced if 4anyone of the molds 67 should not be pushed in so as to take the proper 115place for being sent on by the driver O. ln the common mode of makingthe bars of the press grates Z2 parallel in width the clay materialfrequently comes down first in the middle and pushes off the sand in themolds 12o by touching the bottom or sides before the motion iscompleted; this is mostly caused by quicksand in the clay and when ithappens the clay sticks in the molds the corners are not filled, and thebricks come out not 125 formed full and square at the ends and' corners;these defaults are prevent/ed by my mode of making the grate bars of anincreased width between the ends; this increase must not be made in themiddle of iso th-e length but about one third from the back of the presschamber forward when applied to machines where the clay comes insidewise.

In machines where the clay descends direct the increased width must bein the middlc of the length in either case leaving the ends of equalsize as shown in the detached Figs. 6, Sheet 1, and 13, Sheet 2, and thewidest part in the openings of the grates must be an inch and a quarterless than the width of the bricks and an inch and a half less in thelength the same as in any other grates for similar uses as in practicethose differences are essential to filling the molds without disturbingthe sand used to assist in clearing them.

In Sheet 3, the detached Figs. 18 and 19 represent a variation in themeans of constructing the parts that work the mold driver t). The cam uon the outer end of the shaft Z is shown as a continuous cam instead ofthe interrupted cam, shown in Fig. 8, and the lower roller 'w1 on theleading lever K, is dispensed with as are also the lever L, weight L1,and the apparatus connected with that and the clutch latch 1/1, leavingthe clutch lever l), and fork as described. In these Figs. 18 and 19 thebar K, is connect-ed direct on the end of the crank 5 and the oppositeend of the leading shaft M is tted with a lever R, and weight S, soplaced that as the cam u allows the bar K, to descend, the weight S,operates to depress the lever R, and move the leading crank N, forwardto carry the empty mold under the press and move out the one filled, thedownward motion of the bar K, being regulated, and the upward or returnmotion given, by the cam u, and roller fw.

What I claim as new and of my own inventio-n is- 1. The fitting thepress driver 53 with common clack valves beneath the-openings 64, asshown in Figs. 5 and 20, to admit air between the clay material and theunder side of the driver as the driver rises, substantially as the sameare described.

2. The mode described and shown in Sheet 1, of regulating the pressuregiven by the driver by means of the connection between the arm y and thesliding part a2, which collectively form the driver arm or ro-d, incombination with the weighted lever a9, which lever prevents the part c2from moving up until the resistance to its descent is sufficient toovercome the weight on the lever when it will rise and prevent thebreakage that would otherwise occur, the whole being constructed andoperating as set forth and including any variations substantially thesame in principle and character.

3. The mode of moving the apron chain for conducting the molds beneaththe pressing chamber by means of the latch catch 63,

attached to the horizontal latch slide c1, in combination with the leverc6, the lever c3, sliding shackle bar c1, and cam b3, the whole beingconstructed and operating substantially as described.

1. The Inode of preventing breakage by hard substances obstructing theapron chain through the connection of the levers c3 and c, by the cordc, 0, to the lever (Z2, and the combination of these with the cord (Z5,latch o and tightening rigger lever q, the whole constructed andoperating substantially as herein set forth.

5. The mode of constructing the'metal grates b with openings narrower inor near the middle than at the ends for the purpose of pressing the claythrough the same so that it shall fill the ends and corners of the -moldbeneath equally with the middle parts of the mold, thereby avoiding anypartial removal of the molding sand, and preventing the clay fromsticking in the mold; substantially as the same is d-escribed.

G. The mode described and shown in Fig. 8, and 12, Sheet 2, of pressingthe tempered clay into the molds beneath by the momentum of the weight Foperating through the lever E, arm "w, and driver 2)-, and thecombination of these parts with the crank arm m, and 7c, and lifting cam71., substantially as the same are described.

7. The mode of adjusting the molds b", in place to be sent on under thepressing chamber to be filled by the gage bar al, crank c1, lever crankel, spring 1, and connecting rod 01, see Fig. 14, Sheet 2, substantiallyas the same is described.

8. The mode of driving the molds under the press chamber by the driverO, crank arm N, and 5 in combination with the vertical connecting' leverK, and cam u. see Figs. 8, 14, and 15, Sheet 2, substantially as suchmode is herein shown and described.

9. The mode of preventing breakage from hard substances passing throughthe grates into the molds so as to obstruct the molds, as shown in Figs.8, 11, 16 and 17, by the operation of the vertical lever K, lever Lweight L1, slotted bar y, and forked latch bar y1, and the combinationof these parts with the latch y2, spring g/, clutch lever l), clutch camf, and pin c on the pinion c, substantially as the construction,combination and operation of these parts are herein shown and described.

In witness whereof I the said CHARLES G. BROWN, have hereunto set myhand, in the pres-ence of the witnesses whose names are heretosubscribed, on the twenty seventh day of September one thousand eighthundred and forty o-ne.

CHARLES G. BROVN. [n s] lVitnesses:

Lewis CONSTANT, CYNEMUS F. BRILL.

